In Yoshiwara (present-day Tokyo during the Edo Period), the laws against prostitution were abolished and brothels were restored in the red light district. We meet Kichou and his "princess" who are the top courtesans of the Men's Brothel Quarters at Hanafurirou...

This happened in some make belief time frame, place or alternate universe. The setting is not in Edo, and definitely not historical. They have goddamn hair tongs, maid cafes and a whole other bunch of modern day inventions.

The first time i read this it was not completely scanlated and i didn't feel it was that great (probably because at the time i wasn't that good at handling the angst)But this time, in order to finish reading it, i gave it a try from the start and i think is a brilliant work, i loved every bits of it, even with the demons that keep on haunting them at the end, it's a beautiful work, with beautiful characters (and i don't just mean their looks).

I like that the seme isn't totally looking girly and cut his hair short later (and hopes it stays that way even though he said he thinks to grow it back).

The story is indeed bittersweet but that makes it beautiful. As for the pacing, I think it's alright for the characters' developments and emotions needed to be built and established in unhurried passion, with the tensions and atmosphere to add depth to the story. TBH, I had this on hold for years until today...I read this in one go. The super feminine art style used to turned me off in the past. Guess it's worth it when one's feels like it reading it. Overall, it's a great read. Umm, the ending left me wanting for more though. Another omake or dj would be desirable.

The art's very pretty and all, and the premise is unusual, but the plot and characters felt kind of vapid. Guy A and Guy B like each other, aren't allowed to, so A is tsundere all the time (and claims he doesn't like B) and avoids taking customers, and B keeps getting injured. They end up living happily ever after. I feel this could have just as well been a 1-volume story, instead of 3, considering that not much happened. I ended up skimming through the last several chapters because I was getting bored and just wanted it to finish already.

I found this yaoi absolutely beautiful both in terms of the art and the plot. The author and artist very effectively use art and dialogue to express the emotions of the characters and the bittersweet situation they are in. I never personally found the seme too girly, and I don't understand why other reveiwers have had issues with liking a seme who has bottomed: I thought this only added to the beauty of the plot, especially seeing the uke's reaction to this.

Although the uke is very 'girly' (I prefer to think of him as being beautiful and feminine rather than girly) I also never had an issue with this or even considered his personality annoying whereas normally I hate girly ukes! I don't know why that is, although maybe because the rest of the art was so beautiful I unconsciously accepted this (in other manga's where the uke is the only beautifully drawn character I think this tends to stick out more). I also think that his personality was not unnecessarily feminine: to make the plot work, this personality for him was effective. Although loved the seme more (I thought he was a very well developed character) I still enjoyed the uke and the conflict between the two originally.

The whole plot of this manga appealed to me and I loved it. Bittersweet, beautiful art, tastefully done, well developed characters... what more do you want? Definitely going on my favourites, I even cried at moments.

Even if you don't like feminine ukes, then at least try it out and come to your own decision after reading it! You will be blown away.

Looking at the cover and the setting I thought, "Oh another historical tale of tragic prostitutes who love each other and will only be able to really be together from afar or in death..." But it actually didn't turn out that badly although after the back story I thought I hope they get away before they have to sleep with customers...how sad to be in love with a fellow prostitute and only be able to see each other after having spent the day sleeping with strangers. The seme was really fem at the beginning but it got much better. I can't help hoping the uke will begin to look a little more masculine as the story goes on as well.

The story is good and the premise is interesting but the characters are seriously lacking in personality. You have the typical crybaby uke and pokerface seme. Kichou is the man and Kagerou is the woman, not only in the uke/seme way but in every aspect of their personalities. So you also have the shoujo archetypes of "distant but possesive" male lead and "weak indecisive" female lead.

Spoiler (mouse over to view)

Even after they become free Kichou dresses as a man but Kagerou remains with long hair and dressing as a woman.

If I wanted to read a menxwoman romance I would stick with shoujo, but that's just me...

I recommend this to people who aren't used to BL and enjoy a bit of light S&M.

this truly is a beautiful manga.i mean i love the whole storyline and how tragic they showed how it was during the Edo Period since it was a pretty tough time back then. I also loved the fact how they looked very similar to girls, ahaha don't get me wrong but i love guys who have feminine features and long hair.

the art deserves a 10/10 and i agree with everyone.. the story did kind of drag on with drama during the 2nd volume.. but above all i recommend this to all yaoi readers out there ^^

OMGGGG I can't believe I stumbled upon this! I NEVER read yaoi (just got into it like yesterday) and I'm totally in love with this manga. All the other ones had crazy freaky sex scenes in ever chapter. Not only do I loooove the story line, I think the artwork is fantastic! I like how Kagerou's features are similar to those of a female bc I'm still not used to yaoi butttt I find it interesting haha. Great transaction for me! I would totally recommend it.